KALAMAZOO — Two days after Western Michigan University's defense somehow managed to give up 804 yards and force six turnovers in the same game — a near mathematical impossibility — Broncos head coach Bill Cubit did his best to explain Tuesday night's 66-63 loss at Toledo.

Among the topics at his weekly press conference — moved to Thursday this week: His sideline spat with defensive tackle Drew Nowak, which ESPN's cameras picked up, and why a defense that once looked so promising is now reached historic levels of ineptitude.

First, on the situation with Nowak: Nowak could be seen arguing with Cubit late in the game, with defensive line coach Lou Esposito appearing to intervene, just after Toledo kicked a field goal for a 66-56 lead with 1:51 remaining.

"What it was is we were missing a guy on the field goal (defense)," Cubit said. "So I was talking to Espo, (figuring out) who was the guy who was missing and Drew was a frustrated guy and said, ‘We got them stopped.’ And I said, ‘But we need better stops.’ At that point there (after the onside kick and before the field goal) we couldn’t afford them to move the ball at all."

Cubit also said there's no divide between the offensive and defensive players, even as one side produces at record-breaking levels in a good way and the other, well, not so much.

"Didn’t see it at all," Cubit said. "I know the offensive guys, they were cheering those guys on. I haven’t seen (a divide) all year."

As to why the defense is struggling at such a level after, in September, playing well against Michigan, Central Michigan and Illinois, Cubit said it's not just one thing, but a lack of confidence appears to be at the root of it.

"A lot of it is confidence," Cubit said. "The last two weeks, offensively, we had 600-some yards (offensively) both games, we score 63 and 45, so they’re playing with a bunch of confidence. They think nobody can stop them. Some of it’s a mindset-type thing.

"I kind of saw it the second half of the UConn game (with the defense). ... It was just becoming hard for them. They’ve just got to regroup, that’s just the way it is. I’ve never seen the lulls as high as what it’s been."

Cubit also pointed to the offensive abilities of Toledo and other teams in the Mid-American Conference, such as Northern Illinois. WMU isn't alone in its defensive struggles against MAC offenses, Cubit pointed out, with the Broncos ranked near the middle of the league in scoring defense and atop the league in red zone defense.

"I’m looking at the skill guys in this league right now and (Toledo running back) Adonis Thomas, he might be the best back we’ve played all year, including everybody.

"I’m looking at the wideouts, (Toledo's) Eric Page ... he had a lot better game against Ohio State than he did against us. The league is just getting pretty good. And it’s an offensive league.

"There were a lot of missed tackles, the angles weren’t as good and sometimes, that really hurts you, the angles we had.

"I still think there are players over there that are good players. Drew Nowak’s playing at a really high level. I thought Donald Celiscar (three forced turnovers) played at a really high level on Saturday."

Still, Cubit admitted, he's never seen a turn for the worse quite like this.